Broadcasters will spend ~$760 million on women’s sports broadcast rights in 2026, according to Deloitte. That total is up from $173 million just five years ago.

But while available media inventory is beginning to scale, the games are scattered across a growing number of distribution outlets. The WNBA and NWSL alone now air on at least a dozen channels spanning broadcast, cable, streaming, and FAST platforms.

For established men’s leagues, that fragmentation has been a feature—the NFL and NBA have leveraged multi-platform bidding wars to drive rights fees to record levels. However, for women’s sports properties still building audience, it poses a unique challenge: brands struggle to achieve meaningful scale and measurable business outcomes through any single league-affiliated media partnership. 

That dynamic is forcing companies to rethink how their women’s sports marketing campaigns are measured and monetized. Successful activations now require a multi-channel strategy that includes digital media, social media, athlete creators, and onsite activations.

“For brands to unlock the full value [of their investment in] women’s sports, it goes beyond traditional linear broadcast distribution…Success is going to be defined by more than just the ratings and media impressions alone, it has to be,” Kerry Bradley (SVP, strategy, Horizon Sports & Experiences).

There’s clearly been an increase in live women’s sports television inventory over the last two years.

ESPN says more than two-thirds of its live event programming is now dedicated to women’s competition. Scripps/ION will broadcast more WNBA and NWSL games this summer than any other national outlet. Versant is set to air at least 50 WNBA games this season. And Amazon Prime Video has weekly streaming packages with both the WNBA and NWSL too. 

There’s simultaneously been a rise in interest in women's sports among brands and investors. At least six new professional leagues have launched within the past 18 months, and entirely new agencies are popping up to service the category (see: IX to Five, a joint venture between Horizon Sports & Experiences and TOGETHXR).

But the ongoing transition from niche category to mainstream has made it more challenging to successfully capitalize on investments in the space.

While the WNBA’s most recent media rights negotiation reportedly increased the value of its rights portfolio to ~$3.1 billion over 11 years—an average annual value of ~$281 million, roughly 6.5x the expiring deal, the league was forced to spread games out across broadcasters and platforms. The NWSL had to do the same in the pursuit of its current four-year rights agreements worth $240 million, 40x the amount of the league’s prior pact with CBS on an annual basis.

The increasingly fragmented distribution dynamic makes it difficult for brands to align with these emerging leagues as no single media partner can deliver the concentrated reach advertisers have historically demand over the length of a season.

The rising cost and complexity associated with marketing through women’s sports has sponsors increasingly holding networks and properties to the same standard of measurement and conversion rigor as any other commitment.

Ally Financial has taken an active role in changing the way brand investments in women’s sports are evaluated.

“Success for investment [moving forward] is going to be a combination of brand metrics, exposure, awareness, and driving a perception shift,” Bradley said. “Are [fans of these leagues] rewarding your presence with their wallet and making purchases at a more frequent rate than fans of men's sports? Are they engaging with your content on social and digital channels? We see in our research that fans of women's sports are more active in engaging in online content.”

In 2022, the financial services company pledged to shift half its sports sponsorship budget to the ladies’ game.

Of course, Ally didn’t just buy up existing inventory. It helped to create some new media opportunities too. The company worked with CBS to move the NWSL Championship into primetime for the first time in 2022 and partnered with Scripps to deliver the PWHL’s first-ever nationally televised U.S. broadcast earlier this year. 

Last month, Ally announced it reached that goal—a full year ahead of schedule.

The company’s efforts have earned it goodwill among league supporters and helped to deliver the tangible business results sought. CMO Andrea Brimmer recently said on The Current podcast that fans of women’s sports maintain a favorability towards the brand that is 20 to 30 percentage points higher, depending on the sport, than the general market. Ally is also converting fans of women’s sports into customers at a rate 6x higher than any other target segment and has found the demo to be more efficient from a customer acquisition cost standpoint.

Still, replicating that success requires thinking beyond ad buys during live events on linear television. 

“Women’s sports is too small today to just do one thing…you need to pair the media [advertising] package(s) with athlete deals and amplification on social channels, and you should be activating at live events,” Sara Gotfredson (founder, Trailblazing Sports Group or TSG) said. 

TSG serves as a one-stop shop for brands seeking to purchase inventory across media channels, properties, and athletes.

It’s worth mentioning that the female athlete-as-an-influencer trend is picking up steam. OpenSponsorship reported that three-quarters of the deals it helped to facilitate last year were with women athletes. 

The onus is on the brands and their agency partners to construct creative partnership teams capable of building bespoke programs across various fan interaction points. Those that take a modern approach to activation, storytelling, and distribution will have a leg up in an advertising ecosystem less cluttered than around Big Four sport.

On the latest episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus, a college sports podcast powered by Playfly Sports, JohnWallStreet Founder Corey Leff and Playfly Sports Chairman Michael Schreiber sit down with St. John’s University Vice President and Director of Athletics Ed Kull for a discussion on the benefits of being MSG’s third tenant, changing donor relationships, and permeating pop culture.

📺 Watch the full video on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube Page.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.